Apparatus for



UMTED srarus PATENT orrrou.

ANDREW WALKER, JR., 0F ST. JOHNSBURY, VERMONT.

APPARATUS FOR FEEDING BOILERS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 9,225, dated August 24, 1852.

To all whom z't may concern Be it known that I, ANDREW WALKER, J r., of St. J ohnsbury, in the county of Caledonia and State of Vermont, ha've invented a new and useful apparatus to be applied to the boiler of a steam-engine, the same being for the purpose of overcoming a certain difliculty which sometimes occurs in the operation of the force-pump by which water is forced into such boiler; and I do hereby declare that the same is fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, letters, figures, and references, thereof.

Of t-he said drawings Figure 1 denotes a top view of a boiler, its water tank and force pump and my apparatus as applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a front end elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a side elevation. Fig. 4 is a longitundinal and vertical section taken through the force pump, heater, and tank. Fig. 5 is a transverse section of the same taken through the front pipe I which connects the heater with the boiler as will be hereinafter described.

It is well known to those who are accustomed to use steam boilers and engines that it oftentimes happens under a high pressure of steam or greatly increased temperature of the water in a boiler, that the force pump used to take water from a tank or supply cistern and force it into the boiler will not operate, and particularly when the water in the supply tank has become highly heated by waste steam discharged therein.

I shall not here attempt any hypothesis or to give here any solution of the cause of the ldiiiiculty above mentioned. It will be enough for our purpose to state a well known fact, viz., that such difliculty exists under the circumstances above mentioned. When it does occur it is not only creative of great danger of explosion or bursting of the boiler, but it renders it necessary to stop the engine and oftentimes extensive mechanical operations conducted under the power generated thereby, often to serious detriment and loss.

In the drawings above mentioned A represents an ordinary steam boiler, B its water or supply tank, C the force pump. Instead of connecting the force pump directly with the tank I interpose between it and the tank a cylindrical or other proper shaped close vessel D which I denominate a heater. I connect this heater with the tank or supply cistern by means of a pipe E which I open and extend out of the tank at or near its bottom and cause it to-open at its opposite end into the heater, placing a. valve F on the mouth of the pipe where it enters the heater and making said valve to open upward or into the heater. I also for the sake of convenience connect the heater and tank by another pipe G, which I cause to open out of the tank and into the top of the heater. I provide the pipe G with a stop cock H, by which, communication between the heater and the tank through the pipe G may be opened or interrupted at pleasure. I connect the heater and the boiler by two pipes I and K, both of which open out of the top of the heater and are provided with stop cocks L, M. One of these pipes, viz., I, opens into the top part of the boiler while the other extends through the side of the boiler and into the interior thereof, and opens at its upper end at the ordinary level at which it may be desirable to have the water stand in the boiler while the engine is in the working state. I connect the force pump directly with the heater or lower part of it by means of a pipe N, which I open into the barrel of the force pump at such a distance above the bottom of it as will allow the piston of the force pump to descend below the opening of the pipe N into the barrel.

From the upper part of the force pump I extend a pipe O to the boiler, and within the saidigpipe I place a valve seat and a valve Z1 made to open upward as seen in Fig. 6 which is a section through the force pump and the said pipe.

Under ordinary circumstances the two stop cocks of the pipes I, K, may be closed, while that of the pipe G may be open so as to allow the water to flow from the tank into the heater, such water being at the temperature to which it is heated by the waste steam in the usual way. If the force pump is now put in operation it will take the.

water from the heater and force it into the boiler, and will work under such circumstances as it does when directly connected with the tank, but should the difficulty above mentioned occur, that is, should the force pump fail to force water into the boiler, we have only to close the stop cock H and open the stop cock M of the pipe K. The steam i'rom the boiler will pass freely through the pipe K and down upon the water in the heater, which it will soon bring to or about to the same tempera-ture as that in the boiler, there being a consequent Condensation of steam during the t-ime ysuch heating of the water in the heater takes place, which condensation is no material loss in comparison to what might accrue under other circumstances. As now the pressure of steam within the heater and boiler is alike, and as the temperature of the water, in each is the same or about the same, the force pump can be worked with great ease, and very little power in comparison to what is required when it has to force the water from the tank into the boiler, and against the whole pressure of steam in the boiler. In fact it may be worked by the hand of a person instead of being worked by the steam engine, and thus water may be thrown into the boiler to the level required therein. If it be desirable to raise it to a level higherv than that of the termination of the pipe K within the boiler, we have only to close the stop oook of the said pipe K.

In the use of an engine it often occurs `that the engine has to be stopped more or less. During such times the steam is still By' Vopening the' stop cock of the pipe I this surplus steam may be caused to pass into the heater and heat the water therein, and by opening the stop cock of the pipe that connects the tank to the upper part of the heater, Ythe water of the tank alsoV may receive heatfrom such waste steam. While there is any pressure of steam on the water within the heater, the valve F of the pipe E will remain closed. But if we close the stop Cocks of the pipes I and K and allow the steam in the heater to condense, the pressure of the atmosphere on the water in the tank will very much assist us in filling the heater with water therefrom. t

What I claim as my invention is- The combination of the heater or vessel D and its pipes I,l K and stop cocks L, M, or either of them with the tank, boiler, and force pump, so as to operate therewith or enable the force pump to be operated, substantially in manner and under the circumstances, as above set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereto set my signature, this thirtieth day of June, A. D. 1852.

ANDREW WALKER, "/JR.

Witnesses:

R. I-I. EDDY, FRANCIS GoULD. 

